Clive Palmer says budget is a nightmare, heartless and cruel

PALMER United leader Clive Palmer has described the federal budget as a nightmare.

"Mr Hockey has delivered a heartless and cruel budget that will cause many Australians undue pain, all based on a fairy tale they have concocted that Australia is in some kind of debt crisis," Mr Palmer said.

"We have no debt crisis; there is no justification for a debt levy or the $7 Medicare co-contribution.

"It's just more bullshit being fed to the Australian public for the Abbott government's consumption.

"The imposition of a debt tax, huge cuts to public sector jobs, increased health and education costs, ripping the rug from underneath our most vulnerable with reduced welfare spending and increasing the pension age, these are the frightening realities Australians will wake up to with this new budget.

"We have been told by the Liberals that the age of entitlement is over, yet their entitlement to deceive the Australian people goes unhindered as shown by this brutal budget built on a lie that our nation is near financial ruin.

"OECD figures show Australia's general government net debt as a percentage of GDP in 2013 was 13.5 per cent whereas the OECD average for advanced economies was 73.5 per cent.

"So it is clear that Australia has one of the strongest profiles of low debt among all OECD countries.

"There is no debt crisis and therefore the excuse to impose a two per cent debt tax and introduce other harsh budgetary measures is a breach of promises made to the people of Australia by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and a betrayal of the trust the Australian people have put in the government," Mr Palmer said.